Welcome to Southview Greenhouse Growers GARDEN CENTRE BLOG

By Anne Boulton

Welcome to Southview Greenhouse Grower’s newest family addition: a website. And I’m happy to be blogging regularly for them with news about the greenhouse, information about your gardening needs and helpful hints that we’ve shared along the way. It’s a perfect pairing, I think. Like two peas in a pod. (Or a handful of worms in a compost pile…)

When she’s not crushing potato beetles and boiling dandelions, Anne Boulton is writing about it for a popular gardening column, “Greenboots in the Garden” in the Northen Life. As a screenwriter, she has taken to installing herself in downtown eateries, creating heart fluttering romance and knuckle-whitening drama. She funds these enterprises by teaching English at Laurentian, where she endeavours to teach writing to others.

When Joe Reid asked me to blog about his greenhouse, that meant two things:

He got himself a shiny new website after thirty years of doing things “the old-fashioned way”.

He trusted me enough to speak on his behalf.

That second bit is huge. We’re talking a family-owned business of thirty years, built from the ground up on the shores of Kelly Lake, run by generations of brothers,sisters and aunts and the occasional dog. That’s the thing about Southview. Their roots in the city run deep.

I could tell you about their commitment to producing quality annuals, planters and hanging baskets—everything is started in their 13,000 sq foot greenhouse space.

I bought two shade-loving begonias last summer and they lasted me all season long. And that’s without deadheading.

I could tell you how they genuinely care about your garden plans. Before I knew the Reid’s well, I’d spend a lot of time poring over their plant selections, looking for just the right thing. I’d always get great advice. Every time I came back, we’d pick up where we left off: how was the hemlock doing? How were the kiwi vines taking? They have a genuine interest to know that you’re happy with your product.

But don’t take my word for it alone! Go and see for yourself.

They’ve got thirty years under their belts. It’s why I dig them so. They love to talk gardening. You can spend half a day talking about milkweed with Joe or sweetgrass with Katie. They carry local products like Meeker’s and Wonder Tote, because they too support Local.

That’s why they’re now online. I know. I can’t believe it either. But don’t worry—it won’t take away from their “slow-gardening” revolution. They still plan on making the city beautiful one hanging basket at a time.